Rating: 
Summary: "G" Rated Thriller?
Review: What's with Rosenberg? Is he a graduate of Oral Roberts or Jerry Falwell University? Preachy, preachy, preachy! I can see baptist ministers across the country working this story into their sermons (there's no shortage of bible verses here). There's no sex (not even a kiss between the leading characters)and not a single profane word. Gosh, it's Ajax and Lysol squeaky clean! Buy it; your kids will enjoy it. You won't.
Rating: 
Summary: A Scary Look Into the Near Futture
Review: This is a book which you will hate to put down. And when you reach the last page you are hoping that the author is hard at work on a sequel. As timely as today's headlines and as serious as a heart attack, Joel Rosenberg, has spun a plausable, scary and disconcerting look into the near future. Whether he has a crystal ball or is merely a talented writer is for the coming days to reveal. Regardless, this is a serious book which you need to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Why Men Don't Read Much Fiction
Review: It begins with rave reviews by leading conservatives, Rush Limbaugh, Steve Forbes, and Sean Hanity, and advertisements on their radio talk shows.
It opens with an "insider's" view of a presidential motorcade-at night and from the air, no less.
It creates an image of a third world country, Iraq, portrayed as a major power capable of being a threat to the existence of the USA.
It depicts an American President contemplating the use of nuclear weapons against Iraq. (I won't tell you if he does it).It's a news junkie's dream. But don't expect to know any more going out than you did coming in, about what's really happening in the world, or about the true nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict, or about what-and who-motivates and eggs on the fanatics of the world. To find out, you'll have to go elsewhere. On the plus side, I'd have to say that Rosenberg is a good news writer, is definitely in the know about the way things work "inside the beltway," that is, inside our mega-government complex. And he must be a good conservative to have the friends he has. This book is a classic example of the old adage, "it's not what you know, it's who."
Rating:
Summary: Good story but weak characters.
Review: Mr. Rosenberg has put together a believable scenario regarding a big "what if". The story being, what if America lets Saddam roam free in his own land building weapons of mass destruction. For the complexity that this situation would bring, the book is very short and lacking in many key areas. The biggest area is character development. He introduces some very colorful characters, but leaves the reader wondering about their backgrounds and motivations. One example is of the "Four Horseman". They turn out to be a integral part of the story, but why? Other than the fact that they are the most wanted terrorists in the world, but for what? Why are they so evil? What have they done and why should they be tracked more than others? Another is the traitor in the Presidents ranks. The background on his "backstabbing" of not just the President but the country as well, deserves more than just the few pages it took up. My other big problem with the story, was why is John Bennett the main character? Other than him being an economic genious, he has no political background to broker such an important deal in the middle of a nuclear crisis. I can see Mr. Rosenberg working this angle, but it does not work for me. There are some great parts to the book too. The airport scene involving Bennett is great as is the war room scenes with the President, etc. The opening attack is also very good. Overall, an entertaining book that only scratched the surface on what could be a great story (or an unfortunate outcome).
Rating:
Summary: Timely plot, but needs polishing
Review: I read The Last Jihad in three sittings. Rosenberg's speculation of what would happen if Saddam is left unchecked is, in my mind, plausible. It's especially interesting considering that we're headed for deposing Saddam. Yes, this novel has a Christian/conservative bent, but is that so bad? There's no profanity, no gratuitous sex, and the President prays. The Christians aren't buffoons, shrinking violets, or morally bankrupt hypocrites as they are often portrayed. I had three problems stylistically with Rosenberg's writing. I'd like it if he'd lay off the name brands. Instead of "he picked up his cell phone," it's "he picked up his new Motorola C4100 cell phone." Once or twice, OK, but man.... Secondly, enough with the food already. I don't have to know every course of every meal. I had the feeling the author is fat. Thirdly, the text is interspersed with some pretty disturbingly bad similes; "he spoke in a accent as thick as his mustache." I don't know if he was going for tongue in cheek, but if he was, it was inconsistent with the feel of the rest of the text. Still, a worthwhile read. I hope he writes more because the pace of the story was good, and the action kept me reading. I just hope that his editors offer a little more guidance with the above mentioned problems; they shouldn't have let it go out like that, but then again, maybe they didn't have the time; they wanted to quickly get it out before Saddam is gone. After all, if he ain't there, this story is lost.
Rating:
Summary: This is a Bad Book
Review: Full disclosure - I am conservative: I listen to Rush, watch O'Reilly, etc., so I'm not bashing this book because of the content of its politics (oops - now I sound like a seminar caller). I bought this book after hearing Rush interview the author on his show. When the reviews on a book are from such unusual book reviewers as Rush Limbaugh, Steve Forbes and Sean Hannity and none of the major book reviews, it should be a clue as to the quality of the book. This book starts off great - the first episode is gripping and entertaining. Then it goes nowhere. Characters are shallow and poorly developed and serve mainly as personifications of the conservative ideal. After the intro, the plot goes nowhere. The book is rather short, which is a blessing in this case. The prose is filled with cliches and is often awful. Some reviews have made comparisons with Clancy - one thing that is Clancy-like is that the politics of the author are on full and annoying display. Where Clancy jumps between storylines every chapter or perhaps a little more often, this author jumps between story lines every page. Considering you never get more than a page or a couple paragraphs on each story line, it isn't surprising that the plot is not developed very well. Finally, where Clancy gives you accurate technology detail to the point of irritation, this author has based a significant part of his plot on the Blackberry personal email devices being used for communication in an underground bunker in Israel - Blackberry is not yet in Israel and would certainly not work underground. This book is like Clancy if Clancy wrote comic books. Best to get your political commentary from Rush and O'Reilly and leave the book reviewing to the book people.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read. Worth your time!!
Review: For his first effort this is an excellent book. I read it in one evening. Granted the characters could have been fleshed out better but the "current events" slant of the book more then makes up for its shortcomings. The author has done his homework. Just remember it is fiction based on fact. Read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful scenario book
Review: While this book is short on character development and any writing style is is a great read. The premise applies to our time to a startling degree. I recommend this book to the left and the right alike.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining In Spite of the Problems
Review: A buddy of mine gave me the book saying it was a real page turner. That was true, it is a "blast" to read (Pun intended.) There are several spelling, grammatical and structural errors in the text, but very easy to ignore. However, if you are one of those people (and you know who you are) who cannot get past a mistspelling(haha) without getting uptight, this book is not for you! Some of it is pretty unbelievable, but so is the novel War of the Worlds, yet you never hear anyone complaining about that! If people would understand it is a novel and not an excerpt from the newspaper, they would enjoy it much more. P.S. If you can get into the book like I did, you'll wish it wasn't as short as it is.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad writing or just incredibly stupid? Or both?
Review: You decide. Or better- save your money for something more enjoyable, like a Drano enema.
Despite what I'd heard on the radio, this book was not just bad- it was awful. The characters (if you can even call them that) are one dimensional, if that. The writing is clunky and has the subtlety of an infomercial. The dialog would almost be funny, if it wasn't so painful to read. The plot (and my own masochistic stupidity) were the only things that made me finish this mess. And the plot wasn't all that great either.
Idealistically, this book will make some people crazy, since it is blatantly conservative, and barely a page goes by without some hideous lecture about why Clinton did everything wrong and Republicans have done eveything right. A fair amount of this I actually AGREE WITH, but it reminds me of the propaganda films you used to see coming out of the Soviet Union in the 50s and 60s, but less clever. And just as offensive.
Also, there's some pretty heavy Jesus stuff that pops up from time to time (for no apparent reason). If you this bothers you, run and hide while you still can.
Well, I'd like to stay and entertain some more but I've got some periodontal surgery I've been looking forward to. At least I won't have to read the book any more.
| 
